Matt Bell’s debut novel “In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods” (Soho Press) caught fire last summer. Ploughshares called it a “gorgeous, bottomless book” and NPR’s Michael Schaub says the book “contains passages far scarier than most mainstream horror novels, but Bell writes with a warmth, a humanity that renders the scenes gut-wrenching on an emotional level.” (That’s just a sample of the rave reviews Bell’s book earned.)

Kyle Minor’s second story collection“Praying Drunk” (Sarabande Books) lit up the lit world this spring, landing on nearly every “most anticipated” list before its publication, securing a spot on The Rumpus Book Club and a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Bookslut says “this book is difficult, and so this book gets at things that are true” and the LA Times declares that “to read ‘Praying Drunk’ is to open yourself up to the type of rumination that some might be afraid of: namely, how can anyone have faith when humans do so much to distort godliness?”

And Frank Bill (“Crimes in Southern Indiana,” “Donnybrook”) is branching out from literary noir fiction to write for the comic book franchise “The Crow.” The new series, “The Crow: Pestilence,” features a Juarez, Mexico-based professional boxer who makes a deal to take a dive and runs with the money instead, then ends up dead. Read the interview in Comic Book Resources.